Archive for November, 2008

Apple has addressed the Mini DisplayPort HDCP issue with an update to QuickTime. Users had complained that, when using a Mini DisplayPort to DVI or VGA adapter cable, their new MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air refused to display standard definition content on attached monitors or projectors.

Ideal for mobile DJs and the perpetually indecisive, this gold-sprayed cassette tape hides a cross-fading secret. Dubbed the Urban DJ, it has twin 3.5mm inputs and a single 3.5mm headphone socket, together with a mixer-style cross-fading control, and can be used to blend tracks from two different PMPs.

Microsoft execs may be denying that any self-branded cellphone is in development, but somebody connected with the company doesn't seem to have got the same memo. CNBC's Jim Goldman quotes "a good source" claiming Microsoft are combining the Zune and technology from Danger (the company behind the Sidekick) to create a device offering "true competition to the iPhone". Codenamed "Pink", a prototype could be finished in time to unveil at CES 2009 in January.

Lenovo Europe have announced the availability of the IdeaPad S10e and S9e, the Instant On versions of its existing netbook range. While the hardware of both netbooks is the same as the current models - a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, up to 1.5GB of RAM, 8.9- or 10-inch display, and between 4GB of SSD storage to 160GB of hard-drive storage - the key difference is the Lenovo QuickStart functionality provided by DeviceVM's SplashTop Linux OS.

Sony have released a new software update for the PS3. Version 2.53's headline features are support for full-screen Flash video content, increased flexibility in controller power save settings, and "playback quality of some PLAYSTATION3 format software has been improved". The Playstation Network account creation screens have also been reworked.

We're sizable fans of Drobo's "intelligent data robot" here at SlashGear - in fact it's one of the items in our Holiday Gift Guide - and since we're also sizable fans of cheaper prices it's a double-win for the company's latest deal. Not only have prices on the 2TB and 4TB ready-built NAS' been permanently cut, there's also a $50 instant saving on those and the driveless entry-level Drobo.

Love Star Wars? Disgustingly wealthy? Step right up, my friend, have we got the auction for you. Luke Skywalker's original lightsaber - as used in Star Wars: a New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back - is going up for sale, with an expected price tag of around $185,000. If you've always been more of a fan of effeminate robot menservants, then how about C-3PO's helmet and gloves? Yours for a predicted $83,000 and $30,000 respectively.

N-Trig might not be as well known in the touchscreen tablet field as Wacom, but recently they've been pushed to the fore after their capacitive panels found their way into Dell's Latitude XT and HP's Touchsmart tx2. Those Tablet PC's are just the beginning, though; according to Lenny Engelhardt, VP of business development at N-Trig, we can expect to see traditional notebooks with multitouch-capable displays next year, together with new gesture support. That will include "multitouch buttons", an on-screen palette of app-specific tools intended for fingertip use.

Base-stations that re-route calls made from your landline phones over your cellphone (making the most of your inclusive minutes) aren't new, but they tend to be expensive. The XLink BT Cellular Bluetooth Gateway actually comes in under a ton, however (by a wide margin no less) and can wirelessly connect to three different cellphones at once.

We may be a least a day or so away from Black Friday, but the cut-price Apple hardware-fest is already underway. The Cupertino's own sale is for one day only, and we won't know exactly what's on offer until Friday, but Best Buy have been selling discounted Macs since Monday and MacMall have just kicked off their own promotions. Rather than wade through the deals yourself, MacRumors have put together a summary of where the bargains are.